The present invention generally relates to methods and systems for sharing information. In particular, the present invention relates to methods and systems for sharing images and other information where image quality is maintained among various workstations.
In a clinical setting, patient information can be shared among multiple workstations. This type of information sharing streamlines health-care operations, facilitates distributed remote examination and diagnosis, and improves patient care.
Healthcare environments, such as hospitals or clinics, include storage systems, such as picture archiving and communication systems (PACS). Information stored may include patient medical histories, imaging data, test results, diagnosis information, management information, and/or scheduling information, for example. The information may be centrally stored or divided at a plurality of locations. Healthcare practitioners may desire to access patient information or other information at various points in a healthcare workflow. For example, during surgery, medical personnel may access patient information, such as images of a patient's anatomy, that are stored in a medical information system.
PACS connect to medical diagnostic imaging devices and employ an acquisition gateway (between the acquisition device and the PACS), storage and archiving units, display workstations, databases, and sophisticated data processors. These components are integrated together by a communication network and data management system.
A series or sequence of a plurality of medical images is an imaging study. In general, an imaging study that is the most recent imaging study of a patient or is the imaging study currently being examined by a practitioner will be referred to as a current imaging study.
In order to properly diagnose a current imaging study, a practitioner must examine one or more previously acquired images of the same patient and compare these images to images of a current study. An imaging study that includes two or more previously acquired images is an historical imaging study. Furthermore, an historical imaging study whose images are relevant for comparing with the images of a current imaging study is a comparison imaging study. For example, images that are associated with or display the same anatomy are relevant for comparison purposes.
A typical application of a PACS system is to provide one or more medical images for examination by a medical professional. For example, a PACS system can provide a series of x-ray images to a peer workstation where the images are displayed for a radiologist to perform a diagnostic examination. Based on the presentation of these images, the radiologist can provide a diagnosis. For example, the radiologist can diagnose a tumor or lesion in x-ray images of a patient's lungs.
A reading, such as a radiology or cardiology procedure reading, is a process of a healthcare practitioner, such as a radiologist or a cardiologist, viewing digital images of a patient. The practitioner performs a diagnosis based on a content of the diagnostic images and reports on results electronically (e.g., using dictation or otherwise) or on paper.
The quality of image is very important in clinical applications. Consistent presentation of images among various workstations is crucial to an accurate diagnosis.
Current collaboration systems, such as IBM® Lotus® Sametime®, allow remote workstation sharing capability. However, these technologies are not optimized for applications that involve the sharing of medical images.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0267972 A1 by Costa-Requena et al., published on Dec. 1, 2005, refers to a method of exchanging user interface information over the Blocks Extensible Exchange Protocol (BEEP), for example. BEEP is a bidirectional application protocol that may use a single connection for data exchange, which allows for the preservation of resources.
However, exchanging data without maintaining the quality of images is not suitable for healthcare environments where an image may be used to make a diagnosis or determine a course of treatment.
The major problem with current collaboration systems in clinical applications that involve sharing medical images is the quality of images as displayed on the peer workstation(s).
For example, in clinical applications that involve sharing medical images, the peer workstation(s) often include monitors with different color depths than the monitors of the master workstation. A common problem with the evaluation of medical images and subsequent diagnosis based on those images is that the images may appear differently when viewed on a monitor of the peer workstation(s) as compared to a monitor of the master workstation.
For example, shared data may be displayed with the default lookup table of the peer workstation or a system-wide lookup table. Using these default or system-wide lookup tables may cause high-resolution images to be displayed incorrectly at the peer workstation.
The above example shows that image sharing between master and peer workstations with heterogeneous monitors often results in a loss of image quality. Maintenance of diagnostic image quality is imperative in a clinical setting. Therefore, a need exists for a mechanism to share images between heterogeneous master and peer workstations in clinical applications without loss of diagnostic image quality.
A typical master workstation may contain multiple monitors with different screen resolutions and color depths. For example, a master workstation may include a low resolution, 8-bit monitor and a high resolution, 24-bit monitor.
The different monitors of the master workstation may display different types of data. Generally, medical imaging workstations deal with at least two types of information: image data and non-image data.
Current collaboration systems do not distinguish image data and non-image data and may share only one monitor's screen resolution and color depth with the peer workstation. As a result, the quality of the high resolution, color images may deteriorate when displayed on peer workstation's monitor(s).
The above example shows that images shared by master workstations with mixed monitor configurations may result in degradation of image quality. Therefore, a need exists for a more efficient method for sharing images between master workstations with mixed monitor configurations and peer workstations.